Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Asma Jahangir questioning the legality of the Judicial Commission, said composition of Judicial Commission was against the constitutional provisions.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday Asma, flanked by SCBA secretary Qamar Zaman Qureshi and vice president (Lahore) Zubair Khalid, said according to the Article 175A(A) of the Constitution an advocate having not less than 15 years practice in the high courts will be nominated by the concerned bar council for a term of two years as member of the JC.
But, she said, one member from Balochistan has not required experience. She said one member from Balochistan as member of the JC is additional judge but according to the Constriction the most senior judge of the high court should be the member. She questioned the functioning of the JC, saying, "We are worried at the functioning of the commission." By not alleviating any lawyer from Lahore is a message to the bar of Lahore that it has not a single competent lawyer, which could serve like a judge. She said Lahore has many competent lawyers and there is not brain-drain in the bar.
She said by appointing LHC judges most from the sessions judges it seems that the LHC is being converted to the "higher sessions court". She said the lawyers carried out their movement for independence of judiciary. Although some judges and lawyers gained much in that movement but "we did not participate in the movement for personal gains".
At a question, she said Justice Jawad S. Khawja, judge of Supreme Court, was rewarded by being appointing as judge for his struggle for the restoration of judges. It is worth mentioning here that Justice Jawad had resigned as judge of the LHC during movement.
SCBA Secretary Qamar Zaman Qureshi, however, objected views of his president and said he has reservations over the statement of Asma about Justice Jawad. He said he deserved to be the judge and he was appointed purely on merit. He said SC needed Justice Jawad.
Speaking about reopening of Bhutto's trial, Asma said that main and fundamental question is not simply miscarriage of justice as the legal procedures are devised so that there is minimum chances of miscarriage. She said it is being alleged that the Bhutto trial was not simply a matter of miscarriage of justice but a murder sanctified by biased and colluding judiciary. After the admission made by Former Justice Nasim Hassan Shah through media the question arises: "What is the remedy for an execution that took place because of a court conviction that was planned and accepted by the judiciary itself who fully realised that such a conviction was indeed illegal? Speaking about Mukhtar Mai's case, Asma said she endorsed statement of Aitzaz Ahsan who condemned the SC decision in this regard.
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